Website and blog for writer Cobalt Jade

Parakeet Horror

I had a parakeet growing up, and I loved the little thing. But as pets, budgerigars have their horrible side.

When they die, for example. Often suddenly and without warning. Nothing can freak out a small child like seeing a bird that had been happily chirping an hour before lying motionless on the bottom of its cage.

A budgie paper towel funeral, complete with a mourner. Very sad.

No idea if this pic is a fake. I think it is. But just imagine those two heads with their overgrown beaks having a chattering conversation with each other. Creepsville!

Then, there’s the vampire budgie. Too horrible to contemplate.

Betty Davis in What’s Happened to Baby Jane serves up a budgie salad to her disabled sibling.

And, actually, budgies as food items is very nauseating to think about, even though some native peoples of Australia relied on them for food. Here’s a row of Japanese budgie cookies complete with budgie bungholes.

Budgie sushi, even in cartoon form, is also disturbing. Eat one of those sweet little creatures? I say not!

Giant budgies swarm a room in this installation piece by artist Wakako Kawakami. What is it with budgies and Japan?

This poor budgie has a feather mutation that makes it look like a feather duster. It can’t see or fly and can barely walk. Bred for exhibitions, its life is short.

A mutant budgie that has developed into a monster in some far future when mankind is gone.